What are your go to survival tips for 2026?

Gamifying speech therapy can make the process more engaging and enjoyable for clients. Here are the top five ways to incorporate gamification into speech therapy:

1. Point Systems and Rewards
Description: Implement a point system where clients earn points for completing exercises, achieving goals, or showing improvement.
Example: Create a chart where clients can track their points and redeem them for small rewards, such as stickers or extra playtime.
2. Interactive Apps and Games
Description: Utilize speech therapy apps and online games designed specifically for language development and articulation.
Example: Apps like "Articulation Station" or "Speech Blubs" offer fun activities and challenges that make learning speech sounds more interactive.

3.Storytelling and Role-Playing
Description: Incorporate storytelling where clients can create their own stories or role-play scenarios.
Example: Use puppets or props to act out stories, encouraging clients to practice speech in a fun and imaginative context.

4. Challenge Competitions
Description: Organize friendly competitions between clients to encourage participation and motivation.
Example: Set up challenges where clients can compete to see who can articulate a set of words correctly the most times within a given time frame.
5. Themed Sessions
Description: Create themed therapy sessions that align with holidays, seasons, or popular culture.
Example: For a Halloween theme, clients can practice speech by describing costumes, telling spooky stories, or playing themed games that involve speech practice.

Conclusion
By integrating these gamification strategies, speech therapy can become a more dynamic and motivating experience, leading to better engagement and outcomes for clients.

Key Facts

The best states for teachers in 2025 are Virginia, Utah, Washington, New York and Illinois.
The worst states for teachers in 2025 are South Dakota, New Hampshire, Maine, Montana and Hawaii.
Important factors determining the best states for teachers include compensation, tenure protections, state spending per student, school-system quality and turnover rates.

SLPs spend 15+ hours a week on paperwork. Caseloads of 60, 70, even 80 students. IEPs that take hours to prep, run, and follow up. Scheduling that feels like solving a Rubik's cube blindfolded. And after all that, you still have to find time to actually do therapy.

Research shows that when caseloads cross 45 students, nearly half of SLPs say their workload is unmanageable. At 60 or more, that number climbs to 70%. And 75% of school-based SLPs have considered leaving the field entirely.
We built EASI because we are SLPs, and we have lived this.

EASI is a HIPAA-secure platform that includes MySLP (My Second Look Protocol), a clinical assistant trained on every state's IEP eligibility criteria and years of proprietary clinical data. It does not think for you. It helps you verify whether your clinical decisions are sound or need a second look.

The platform also includes language sample analysis that transcribes speech in context, including filler words and disfluencies, and calculates MLU, IPSyn, percentage of consonants correct, and more. Coming soon: a record review feature that compiles your test scores, previous reports, and IEPs into comprehensive evaluations.

And yes, MySLP can help with scheduling. Put your caseload and available times in, and it generates a schedule for you.
We are looking for beta testers before our early 2026 launch. If you want early access, sign up here.

https://easi-as.com/

Factors That Influence Time:
1. Experience Level: Familiarity with district systems and templates can reduce IEP writing time by 40–60%.

2. Caseload Size: Larger caseloads often mean batching data collection and progress monitoring, improving efficiency.

3. Digital Tools: AI-based documentation or automated progress systems (like those used in Liricare) can reduce total time by 1–2 hours.

4. Collaboration Quality: Strong team coordination (especially with special ed teachers and parents) significantly shortens the revision cycle.

School-based SLPs, we're seeking clinical partners for EASI beta testing. This evaluation platform was developed through National Science Foundation Phase 2 funding by a team of speech-language pathologists, data scientists, engineers, and special educators.

EASI provides comprehensive analysis in 15 to 30 minutes, record review reports, and secure AI assistance for case consultation. The system helps you brainstorm complex cases, verify your clinical findings, and develop therapy plans within a HIPAA and FERPA compliant environment. Unlike general AI platforms, EASI was purpose-built for clinical workflows with student privacy protections integrated from the ground up.

Join the beta program at Liricare.com. Your feedback will shape tools designed by field experts who understand the demands of school-based assessment and the ethical requirements of working with student data.

Sign up to be a beta tester today! https://easi-as.com/#card-v1ul56zcfdrd9j5

True or False: Speech therapists in a school setting are required to provide services only to students who have an Individualized Education Program (IEP) and are not responsible for students with 504 Plans.

Hi all. What’s one OT resource (book, site, or account) you keep going back to?

https://mrsspeechonline.com/hipaa-compliance-at-home/?no_cache=1